Chapter 11

Despite the tragedy unfolding around her, Malala is motivated by high school and the competition that exists between herself, Moniba and Malka-e-Noor. Outside, the streets are overrun by the army but the Taliban have still not been eradicated and are now blowing up schools.

Ziauddin and his fellow activists give interviews on BBC and Voice of America, clarifying that what was happening in Swat was not about Islam. At school, a peace march is organised and Malala and her friends give interviews on national TV and for the BBC about girls being made to drop out of school.

With the remote areas less safe, Malala’s extended family move into their home in Swat, making the house cramped. Fazlullah issues a ban on girls’ schools but Ziauddin vows to keep the school open.

Chapter 11 Quotes

We were scared, but our fear was not as strong as our courage. Chapter 11

My father said the Taliban presence in Swat was not possible without the support of some in the army and the bureaucracy. Chapter 11

Never in history have Khushal and Malala been friends. Chapter 11

The state is meant to protect the rights of its citizens, but it’s a very difficult situation when you can’t tell the difference between state and non-state and can’t trust the state to protect you against non-state. Chapter 11

He hated the fact that most people would not speak up. (Malala, on her father) Chapter 11

My father used to say the people of Swat and the teachers would continue to educate our children until the last room, the last teacher and the last student was alive. Chapter 11

The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from thinking. Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Malala shares how dead bodies began to be left in the town square each morning as a warning to the people against resisting the Taliban. She struggles to understand why the Taliban are misusing the teachings of Islam. Fingers start to get pointed at Ziauddin and Malala’s mother makes hypothetical plans for if the Taliban arrive on their doorstep.

Chapter 12 Quotes

They are abusing our religion,’ I said in interviews. ‘How will you accept Islam if I put a gun to your head and say Islam is the true religion? If they want every person in the world to be Muslim why don’t they show themselves to be good Muslims first?’ (Malala) Chapter 12

One day I saw my little brother Atal digging furiously in the garden. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked him.
‘Making a grave,’ he said. Our news bulletins were full of killings and death so it was natural for Atal to think of coffins and graves. Chapter 12

The Taliban bulldozed both our Pashtun values and the values of Islam. Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Malala offers to fill a request by the BBC for a female teacher or student to write a diary about the situation in Swat, and begins to learn the power of words. Using the pseudonym, Gul Makai, for safety reasons, Malala gives guided interviews by secure phone in the evenings, the content of which is presented weekly on the BBC Urdu website. She wants to tell her friends that she is the ghost reporter but is cautioned not to. When school ends for Malala and all other girls at the start of the winter break, Malala agrees to take part in a New York Times documentary about her situation. Ziauddin assures Malala she will again attend school.

Chapter 13 Quotes

When you’re very young, you love the burqa because it’s great for dressing up. But when you are made to wear it, that’s a different matter. Chapter 13

I began to see that the pen and the words that come from it can be much more powerful than machine guns, tanks or helicopters. Chapter 13

Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human. Chapter 13

Chapter 14

National pressure on Fazlullah pushes him to lift the ban on girls education up to age 10, or year 4. Malala and her friends, in year 5, pretend to be younger and return to school. Malala gains courage from her teacher Madam Maryam for resisting the pressure to stop working.

A truce-fire between the Taliban and government is announced but is short-lived, and the region essentially remains a Taliban state.

Chapter 14 Quotes

We were lucky too that Madam Maryam was brave and resisted the pressure to stop working. She had known my father since she was ten and they trusted each other completely … Chapter 14

‘The secret school is our silent protest,’ she told us. (Madam Maryam) Chapter 14

Chapter 15

With the military operations sweeping into Malala’s valley, her family, along with thousands of others, leave and become internally displaced persons. The family will eventually move to four different places in the space of two months. Malala witnesses the true strength of her mother during this time. Readers witness Malala’s continued growth when she gives speeches at a new school alongside the boys.

Chapter 15 Quotes

But my mother was very composed and courageous. Chapter 15

‘It is as though we are the Israelites leaving Egypt, but we have no Moses to guide us.’ (Ziauddin) Chapter 15

I always knew my mother was a strong woman but I looked at her with new respect. (when Malala’s mother defends herself against a man’s advances) Chapter 15